Pacifica (statue)

It took Stackpole two years to complete the statue as it started out as a three inch figure. It went through 50 renditions before settling upon the final model which was tall. The model was then divided into cross sections. ==Pacifica at the Golden Gate International Exposition==

Pacifica was physically the biggest and most conspicuous statue at the exposition. She was placed in front of a metal prayer curtain that had a backdrop of stars made of metal and small tubes that would make sound when met with a breeze. In front of the statue, in the center of the court, was a circular fountain surrounded by the works of eight different sculptors of figures representing people living on shores of the Pacific. with a model of Pacifica ==Presentation==

Lighting The statue was lit by two 1500 watt underwater floodlights. The giant spotlights gave Pacifica a look of "regal splendor." The backdrop, or Great Window, was lit by 75 amber, 150 red, and 300 blue floodlights, each 200 watts, all controlled by a thyratron. Flowers Orange calendulas were in full bloom around the statue, as well as red, yellow, and purple ranunculus and anemones which were said at the time to be very fragrant and added a romantic edge to the court. ==Destruction==

From 1939 to 1940, some 16 million visitors came to the exposition. After the exposition, Stackpole proposed that the sculpture be recast in a more permanent form—steel, stone or concrete—and positioned prominently on an island in the San Francisco Bay, perhaps Alcatraz or Angel Island, in a manner similar to the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. The United States Navy purchased the island as a naval base in 1941, and demolished Pacifica on January 22. Most other exposition structures were also demolished. ==Pacifica II==

Currently, a non-profit organization called The Pacifica II Statue Project is working to recreate and resurrect Pacifica on Treasure Island. There is currently an replica of Pacifica at City College of San Francisco Ocean Campus, 50 Phelan Avenue in the garden next to the Diego Rivera Theater. ==Pacifica Radio==

The Pacifica Statue is purported to be the inspirational namesake for the Pacifica Foundation, founders of which, in response to revulsion at warmongering propaganda on commercial radio at the breakout of the Cold War in general and the Korean War in particular, and dread that such messaging unopposed would lead to nuclear war, launched their flagship station, KPFA, across from Treasure Island in Berkeley in 1949, with a goal of developing a private but non-commercial media network for long-form education and discussion of non-violent relations locally, nationally and worldwide. ==References==